PayPal adds Instant Transfer to Venmo
Venmo users now have the ability to deposit funds to debit cards for 25¢.
That means persons should be able to spend Venmo Peer to Peer (P2P) payments at brick and mortar stores or vending machines almost instantly. Venmo users should be able to get cash from ATMs and cash registers at retailers such as Walmart (NYSE: WMT) with the solution.
The transfers are supposed to be instant but they may take up to 30 minutes, The Verge reported. PayPal Holdings (NASDAQ: PYPL) has been beta testing the money-transfer option for around six months.
This should greatly increase Venmo use by eliminating two of the greatest drawbacks to the app. Those drawbacks were the inability to use it at most brick and mortar businesses, and the difficulty converting Venmo funds into paper cash.
Mobile Business Booms at PayPal
Mobile business is already booming at PayPal. All three of the company’s mobile solutions; Venmo, PayPal, and Xoom, processed $10.4 billion during 4th Quarter 2017.
That amount was an increase of 53% over 4th Quarter 2017, Medianama reported. Venmo was the biggest driver of that growth it processed nearly $35 billion during 4th Quarter 2017. That made for an increase of 97% over the same period in 2016.
It looks as if Venmo; not Apple Pay, is the gold-standard in mobile payments. One has to wonder if the Apple Zombies in the newsrooms ever notice and start reporting upon the fact.
Will Walmart and Amazon start Accepting Venmo?
Mobile users are “voting with their fingers” and choosing Venmo over Apple Pay. The next logical step for Venmo will be for big retailers like Walmart, Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), and Kroger (NYSE: KR) to start accepting Venmo money transfers.
Walmart is already accepting transfers from its Walmart Pay app in its stores. A logical progression would be for Walmart Pay, to start accepting Venmo money transfers. Since over 20% of PayPal’s total payment volume now comes from P2P such a development is likely.
Other big developments at Venmo will be adding international remittances to the app, and integrating with a cryptocurrency such as Ripple (XRP) or Ethereum (ETH). Since PayPal already owns the international money transfer service Xoom such a development is likely.
Venmo will become the engine that grows PayPal into one of the world’s largest financial services networks. One has to wonder how competitors like Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) will respond. Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) is already testing its answer to Venmo – Tez in India. Not to be outdone, Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) is testing WhatsApp payments in India.
Payments will be the big tech battle of 2018. Expect competition in this sector to heat up as PayPal starts raking in more cash.
